SSX Deadly Descent 2
by Dyceman88
Summary: The Legends of SSX come together after 4 years apart, with the help of Zoe Payne, Mac and new guy Tane Mumea for a tournament liek no other, SSX has never faced anything like this before.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Four years after SSX 3 at Big Mountain, a fourth tournament is planned, an ultimate tournament. It is a tournament that promises to be "like no other" as the founder of SSX, Todd Batty, put it. Gone are the days where a small group of riders makes up a tournament…10 riders, 12 riders…that is not a true tournament. However with the help of his two new partners, DJ's Rizzo and Bandito, they now plan to bring together a total of 24 riders from around the world, some new, some old. The tournament will take the most skilled riders around the world; from the Rockies to the Southern Alps in New Zealand and put them up against the world's most Deadly Descents, as the clock counts down and the competitors gather from around the globe only one thing is certain, not even SSX has faced anything like this before.

Gear Chart:

Free Skiers: Elise, Viggo, Skye, Sid, Felix, Zoe, Alexis

BX Boarders: Elise, Moby, Psymon, Zoe, Marisol, Nate, Allegra, Viggo, Tyson, Skye, Maya, Felix, Tane, Alexis, Ty, Jack, Dmitriy

Freestyle Boarders: Mac, Kaori, JP, Griff, Viggo, Sid, Evette, Marty

Alpine Boarders: Marisol, Skye, Elise

Important Notice: 

I do not own the rights to SSX or any of its characters and the stories I write is merely fan fiction; they are tributes to what I think is the most awesome sport/ race game of all time. Any characters that are fan made I claim no ownership for and by putting them in this story I do not want anyone to feel i have done this (Evette and Dmitriy are fan characters but they were made by another highly talented person, not myself). Out of RESPECT for that persons hard work in designing them I have put them in a fan fiction story and personally I consider them a part of the SSX Crew because they looked so amazing. So BOOGIE I hope you like how I add your characters, if not, it is just fan fiction. Again I claim no ownership of ANY of the characters.

Chapter 1: The Global Announcement

As the crowds gathered in the Mega Domes that had been set up around the world over the last 4 years, slowly planning for this event, a buzz of excitement came over the countless billions watching around globe. The primary dome was set up in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

The founder of SSX, Todd Batty moved up onto the stage, it was time to make the speech that would go down in the history books, the whole world was now listening 'ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ottawa Mega Dome, I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm here.'

The crowd cheered him on and so Todd continued 'we have a VERY, important announcement to make, it has taken us over four years of secretive planning, to organise this but we are finally ready.'

He lit up the screen behind him to show the words SSX Deadly Descents 'this is the big one people, the tournament I always dreamed of, the true meaning of SSX, not only wild riding and wild tricks but also surviving the most insane and dangerous places on Earth; I'll have DJ Rizzo explain the rest.'

Rizzo moved up and took the microphone 'hey everyone, I hope you're all psyched about this' to which everyone screamed 'alright, now listen up, we have gathered SSX Legends from far and wide, the best boarders from around the world' she said as the screen behind her showed riders various ID tags being pulled from various countries.

'That's right' said a second guy on the stage 'names Bandito, I'll be working alongside Rizzo to aid the SSX Crew; we got the skateboard and DJ legend Mac Fraser, the "Bombshell" Elise Riggs and the girl who lights up all of Japan with her name Kaori "Tricky" Nishidake to name a few.'

'We also got some old and new faces for you too but we don't want to spoil the surprises just yet, but it is safe to say that you've never seen an SSX Crew this big before' Rizzo added.

The crowd screamed and screamed, it was almost deafening.

'We have ten stops on our Deadly Descents World Tour' Bandito said after the crowd calmed down a bit 'each location more wild and untamed than the last and each will challenge our riders to the fullest; they will need some special gear to get through the harsher areas of each region.'

'The Rockies is our first stop on the World Tour' Rizzo said 'after that we head to Patagonia in South America.'

'Any questions' Bandito asked to the crowd.

Someone raised their hand and they were given an earpiece microphone 'yes, um, how do you plan to get them up to these altitudes…won't you need helicopters or something?'

Rizzo smiled 'way ahead of you, don't worry, we have three of the best pilots in the world, highly experienced and crazy enough to ride into even the most dangerous conditions.'

Meanwhile in the backroom lounge the SSX Crew were slowly gathering and awaiting their time to come on stage.

Elise sighed restlessly, leaning against the wall near the stage on the far side of the room, her tall figure and long blonde hair unchanged from four years ago and still tied back in a ponytail 'how much longer they gonna keep us waiting here.'

Mac laughed from his place on the sofa, his arm around Kaori 'chill Elise, not like they gonna start without us or anything.'

'True' Elise replied, though still staring at the stage, waiting for them to come.

Kaori snuggled closer to Mac, putting her head on his shoulder yawning 'wow I'm tired, wish they'd given me more warning before pulling me over from Tokyo.'

No one commented on their romantic behaviour, they had finally come out about being a couple at the end of SSX 3, upsetting a lot of girls on Mac's side and probably a lot of guys on Kaori's too.

Kaori had changed a fair bit in four years; she had shortened her hair slightly and dyed it black with some pink streaks in it. She also had a much more mature face with make up; lipstick and eyeliner.

Mac on the other hand had the same old shaggy hair with a stubble on his chin from SSX 3, although it was possibly a little shorter and neater.

To the right of the two lovebirds sat Nate with his feet up on the coffee table, reading a book; though engrossed he was still clearly the same old Nate with a shaven head and muscular body.

Snores from the other side came from Viggo who was asleep, with his feet up, looking perfectly comfy and oblivious to all around him, as always. The Swede hadn't changed physically save for getting rid of the stubble on his chin, though, in Mac's opinion, that only made him look even more effeminate.

Suddenly the door banged open and Allegra walked in 'hey guys…this it, I thought there was meant to be loads of us?'

'Apparently we're what Bandito called early' Nate muttered, not moving his eyes from his book.

Allegra groaned 'well I rushed for nothing then, I heard all the noise from the Mega Dome and thought I was late' seeing the fridge over behind the bar she headed for it 'I'm getting a soda, anybody want one?'

Mac raised a finger and Kaori said 'yeah ok, thanks Ali.'

Allegra really didn't like being called "Ali" but Kaori was the only girl that could get away with it because well…she was just too darn cute to be mean too. She tossed the cans to Kaori and Mac then took one for herself and moved to down near Nate.

Seeing Elise, Allegra put on a face 'oh great, you're back.'

'Yeah like I'm thrilled to see you either, how are your control issues coming?'

Allegra scowled 'how is your face healing' she snapped back, remembering how she took a swing at Elise in the last tournament.

'Careful what you say Al, you guys might need my help this year' Elise said smiling with a satisfied look.

Deciding to ignore her Allegra turned to Nate 'so Nate what you been doing with yourself?'

Nate shrugged in his normal silent way 'you know…this and that, Griff ain't coming this year is he?'

Allegra laughed 'I hope not, kid is way too young to take on something this dangerous, heck I'm not so sure I'm ready for some of these challenges.'

'I agree' Kaori said 'Griff is too young, I mean Mac and I may not be that old either but we have had a lot of experience and…not to sound boastful but you know…'

Allegra shook her head 'no you guys got talent, it's true.'

'Hmmm' said Nate 'I don't know, this is different though, one thing is tricks and racing…another is surviving extreme conditions, it's more the sort of territory I know.'

A noise distracted them all and they turned to see Viggo pull himself upright 'Allegra…' he said sleepily, brightening up he added 'Al, baby, it is you' he said putting on one of his cheesy white teeth smiles.

Allegra rolled her eyes, he never could take a hint, she had tried to tell him she wasn't interested all through SSX 3 but he was just convinced she had love-hate feelings for him or something shaking her head at him she sighed and said 'screw you.'

Viggo laughed 'ouch, still angry at me, after four years…man that's just cold.'

Loud voices from outside the door drew their attention and they all turned just in time to see Zoe, Moby and Psymon come in 'hey guys' Zoe said 'anyone else as psyched about this tournament as me?'

'Well it's certainly crazy if that's what you mean' Allegra replied 'whose idea was this anyway?'

Zoe laughed 'I'm mostly to blame there.'

'Say what' Viggo said with surprise 'I thought Todd came up with this tournament.'

Mac pointed at Viggo 'the original idea was his yeah, the dream of a massive World Tour, that was what SSX was first time round remember guys' he said looking at Elise and Kaori for support.

'Yeah' Elise nodded.

'It's true mate' Moby added sitting down at the bar.

Leaning back in the sofa Mac continued 'but me, Zoe and this guy called Tane Mumea, you'll meet him soon enough, helped Todd pull together SSX into what he has always wanted…and that is this dawg.'

'Yeah but I did most of the work' Zoe said 'I found Tane; I helped Todd round up the worlds talent…where have you been?'

Mac waved her off 'whatever girl, I found Marty, and I tell you he has not been easy to find in recent days.'

'Your cousin Marty' Moby asked frowning 'never thought that guy would come back.'

Kaori looked excited 'wow Marty is coming back, that is so cool.'

'Who is Marty' Viggo asked looking confused 'could you like, slow it down for us newcomers' he said gesturing to him, Nate and Allegra.

Mac waved his hand again 'all will be revealed soon enough' turning to Zoe he added 'and how can you say I don't help what has Tane done?'

Zoe grinned 'you'd be surprised what that guy can get done when he puts his mind to it.'

After a long silence Allegra said 'so…if you rounded everyone up…did you contact Griff about this?'

'Yeah, why' Zoe replied, moving round to the stage and sitting on the edge of it.

Allegra felt her jaw drop 'he's 17 Zoe; there is no way he should be in this tournament.'

Zoe sighed 'yeah I know, I told Todd the same thing but he said Griff will be fine, so long as he sticks to the other events and away from the descents themselves.'

Nate actually laughed 'since when have we ever been able to control him.'

'Oh this will be different, believe me' Mac replied 'most places are chopper access only, if we tell them they can't take Griff, then they won't.'

'Specific tournament rules and guidelines say Griff has every right to compete as a member of the SSX Crew, I won't deny the guy gets on my nerves, but that's the way it is' Zoe finished.

Griff came through the door as Zoe finished, drawing their attention yet again, 'we were just talking about you pint size' Moby said from his place at the bar.

'Hey Grommet' Allegra added 'how you been?'

Griff shrugged in a lazy teenage way, reminding her of Mac way too much 'fine but no one calls me that anymore, got it' he said irritably.

'What' Nate asked frowning in confusion.

'Grommet' Griff replied 'no one told me that means rookie, and you guys gave it to me for a nickname, how harsh is that, it's Griffin or Griff from now on, got it!'

Zoe laughed 'yeah, like you can boss me around kid.'

Allegra held up her hands in a surrender gesture 'hey I didn't know that…' looking at the others she said 'did you?'

Viggo shrugged 'sure I did, but it was true.'

Dumping his bags on the ground Griff hurled a cushion at Viggo and then said a word so rude Allegra was amazed the kid knew it 'Griff!'

Mac laughed 'dude, where'd you learn that word.'

Sitting down beside Kaori, Griff scowled at them 'shut your pie hole Mac, seriously, that Grommet thing was uncalled for.'

'So was that word Griff' Kaori said, but she thumped Mac to shut him up none the less.

The group sat around talking for another half hour, or at least most of them did, Elise kept to herself, staring restlessly at the stage and Nate kept his nose in the book reading peacefully, when he wasn't being a mountain mad man he was surprisingly calm.

Zoe, Moby and Psymon sat at the bar keeping to themselves as they tend to do.

Allegra was talking with Griff, who had finally calmed down and reluctantly let Viggo into the conversation too from across the table.

'You sure you're up to this tournament Griff' Allegra asked 'I mean this isn't like last time.'

Griff waved his hand dismissively 'yeah yeah, don't worry Al, I know what I'm doing.'

Viggo gave a small laugh 'dude you are starting to sound just like Mac, it's scary.'

'Say what' said Mac looking up from his brand new MCOM.

Seeing his MCOM Griff said 'hey when did you get the new one, I didn't get one, I've wanted one of these for ages.'

A voice from the stage drew everyone's attention 'well then you in luck kid, because SSX Deadly Descents is giving you all one this year, you need them to keep in touch.'

On the stage stood a woman in a black tank top with the words "SSX DEADLY DESCENTS" written on it in ice blue. She had brown hair in dreadlocks held together by a purple bandana, a few freckles on her face and tight skinny jeans.

Elise smirked 'about time Rizzo, thought I was going to die of old age back here.'

'How old are you anyway now Riggs…40' Zoe asked from the back.

'Screw you Payne' Elise replied to which there was just a laugh from the back in reply.

Rizzo pulled out a microphone 'ok guys, ok, sorry for the lateness, controlling a crowd like the one out there is no easy job though, but we're ready for you to head to the main stage now, oh but you're not alone.'

'Yeah…where is Tane and the others' Zoe asked shifting her butt off the bar.

Rizzo grinned 'waiting for you, so come on.'

They all moved onto the stage and exited by a side door, they moved single file along a narrow backstage hallway, following the person in front of them.

When they finally reached the end Rizzo said, 'ok, you guys ready to begin the ultimate SSX experience, this is what you vets have been preparing for since the beginning, you newer riders, this is your chance to prove yourselves.'

They all nodded and Rizzo opened the door, moved aside to let them through and they filed out onto the stage to a level of noise that was so loud and deafening it weighed down on them.

On the stage stood Todd himself and another guy, Nate pointed to him and whispered to Allegra 'that's Bandito, our other DJ, along with Rizzo, their like some world renowned duo.'

Allegra made a small noise of approval then looked over at the large group of other competitors 'wow, there really are a lot of us.'

Bandito stepped forward 'alright everyone, all our competitors are here; Team SSX, the SSX Crew is fully assembled so now let us tell you just what amazing legends of snowboarding, not to mention other fields, we have here.'

'From Vancouver, we have Elise Riggs aged 30' said Rizzo and Elise's ID came up on the main screen.

'Ugh, I really wish they'd left out my age' Elise muttered.

'From Manhatten, New York we have Mac Fraser, age 22' Bandito continued.

Mac moved forward and raised his arms high 'yeah, the Mac is BACK!'

Looking over at Kaori Allegra saw her shake her head sighing, she sometimes felt sorry for the girl, having a guy like Mac for a boyfriend.

'Kaori Nishidake from Tokyo, aged 23' Rizzo continued, oblivious to Mac's behaviour.

'Moby Jones from Brixton, London, aged 24' said Bandito.

'Zoe Payne from Baltimore, Maryland, aged 26' said Rizzo.

At this Todd spoke 'to Zoe we just want to say thanks, it was she who really insisted SSX get back on its feet after four years and get back in a big way too, Mac and Tane helped as well but Zoe you have always been the crazy wild one, if anyone could make my dream possible it's you.'

Zoe laughed and took the mic for a second 'thanks Todd, you're too much, I just hope I can live up to my own words, SSX has never faced ANYTHING like this before, that is all I can say.'

'Psymon Stark from Squamish, aged 32' said Rizzo, continuing the list.

'Nate Logan from Colorado, aged 30' said Bandito.

'Viggo Rolig from Stockholm, aged 23' said Rizzo.

'Allegra Sauvagess from San Francisco, aged 22' continued Bandito.

'Griff Simmons from San Diego, aged 17' finished Rizzo, to which much of the crowd muttered in surprise.

Todd spoke into the microphone 'we understand your possible confusion and/or concerns for Griff but he is over 16 and a member of the team so he has every right to compete, were he still under 16 we would possibly re-consider but he isn't.'

Stepping forward Rizzo added 'we will however be recommending to Griff that he watch himself out there.'

Griff gave a sniff 'whatever, I'll be fine; I can handle anything the rest of you guys can.'

'Now we move on to the new and returning riders; we'll start with the returning ones' Bandito said 'first we have Marty Stieber from Munich, aged 27.'

Marty stepped out of the crowd of boarders and waved to the crowd and then the others 'huh guy hasn't changed much' Moby commented.

Allegra could tell instantly Marty and Mac were related; same dark brown hair, same eyes and similar facial features.

'Jean-Paul "JP" Arsenault from Lyon, aged 32' said Rizzo and JP moved up beside her to wave at everyone as well.

'Marisol Diez Delgado from Caracas, aged 24' said Bandito and Marisol stepped, Marisol asked for the microphone and he handed it over.

'Hey everyone, great to be back, I just wanted to say I'm looking forward to this and to pass on a message from Brodi Ford, he's sorry he couldn't make it' she then handed the mic back to Bandito.

'Next we have our very mysterious rider known only as Jack' Rizzo said.

To this there was a lot of confusion and muttering amongst the crowds and competitors alike.

'Who' Griff asked in confusion 'I don't ever remember someone called that, was he in an earlier tournament?'

'I have no clue what they are talking about mate' Moby added from behind Griff.

'Me neither' said Elise 'and usually I'm pretty good at knowing the inside scoop, Mac who is this guy?'

Mac shrugged 'how the hell should I know?'

'Well you helped organise this tournament, shouldn't you know' Elise replied irritably.

Mac pointed at the mysterious figure called Jack, who was wearing a simple jacket and jeans with large shades and a cowboy hat on to hide his face 'that guy was not one of the people we gathered up, at least I didn't.'

Moby moved over to Zoe 'hey luv, you know who this Jack bloke is?'

Shaking her head Zoe watched the mysterious figure 'he doesn't look like anyone from a previous tournament does he?'

'Guess he's a rookie then' Psymon muttered.

'Tyson Logan from Colorado, aged 22' Bandito said.

'Say what' Nate said loudly 'what the heck is my brother doing here and when did he enter SSX?'

Mac laughed 'skill runs in the family dawg, I saw your brother and I had to recruit him.'

'Sid from Japan, aged 27' Rizzo's voice rang out.

Kaori made a hyper squeal noise 'Sid is joining, awesome, thanks to whoever did that.'

'That'd be Zoe' Mac muttered, he didn't sound overly pleased about the decision.

'Skye Simms from the Gold Coast, aged 18' said Bandito.

'Huh, an Australian, that's a first' Elise commented, sounding mildly interested.

'Yeah that was one of the few Tane brought in' Mac said.

'Felix Levesque from Montreal, aged 19' came Rizzo's voice.

'And Maya Nolet from North West, Canada, aged 23' added Rizzo.

Elise smiled 'finally some more Canadians, no offence to Americans that is.'

'None taken' Nate said.

'Tane Mumea from Fiji, aged 28' said Bandito, Tane stepped forward and raised his arm in the peace symbol.

'So where did Zoe meet Tane anyway' Allegra asked Moby.

Moby shrugged 'beats me, crazy girl goes all over the place in the off season, travels round the world, guess that's how.'

'Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your voice Moby' Elise said with a smirk.

'No' Moby said confidently, he sounded sincere enough but it left most of them wondering.

'Alexis Moreau from Chamonix, aged 26' said Rizzo and a tall slender dark haired Elise stepped forward.

'I can't believe it, you got HER, onto SSX' Elise said incredulously 'but I thought she'd hate us.'

Mac shrugged 'it was tough, Zoe had to get a little help from…ugh I can't believe I'm saying this…JP to convince her.'

'You can't be serious mate' Moby said 'you and JP actually had a civilized conversation.'

'I'm guessing you and JP stir up bad blood' Nate said in his slow, Colorado accent that made everything sound sort of wise.

'JP is a narcissist, he ticks everyone off just by existing' Mac said 'but for some reason Alexis likes him.'

Elise cringed 'I thought a woman like her would have better taste.'

'Why would Alexis hate SSX' Griff asked, who hadn't spoken for a while, probably a world record for him.

Viggo rolled his eyes 'because the woman holds like 17 World Records in snowboarding or something like that, she owns most of the Alps with her records. If we're going to the Alps on this World Tour we may as well just give her the gold…save us all a fat load of time.'

Allegra looked at Viggo with amazement 'wow you are giving in.'

'When I know I'm beat, yeah' he replied 'I may be a bit of an airhead but I'm not stupid.'

'How did you know all that about her anyway' Griff asked curiously.

'I'm from Europe, I'm a European celebrity, it takes one to know one' Viggo explained.

'Ty Thorsen from Tromso, aged 26' said Bandito and Ty stepped out of the group waving to the crowd.

'Hey wait a minute, Ty Thorsen, wasn't that guy the Test Rider for the pro circuit or something' Kaori asked looking at Ty with a frown in her face.

'Yeah he was, but Zoe recruited him, guys got mad skills, we might well need them too' Mac replied.

'Evette Shepard, East Coast, USA, aged 22' Rizzo continued and an African-American girl stepped forward, she was certainly new but she had a certain…quality about her that reminded the riders from Tricky of a certain other competitor.

'And last but by no means least, Dmitriy Mirkin from Moscow, aged 25' finished Bandito, the guy called Dmitriy didn't move from his spot but waved enthusiastically enough.

The large screen lit up and the ID tags of all the riders lined up down both sides of the screen, leaving the centre clear to show a globe of the world 'alright' said Rizzo 'that is everyone, like I said one hell of a line up this year round, 24 competitors and they will be going around the world to not only take on each other but the most deadly terrain and locations on Earth.'

Suddenly there was a noise like a siren and the screen went black, confusing everyone 'what the hell' the competitors heard Rizzo say despite the fact the microphone was no longer operating. The sirens continued to flash and then the lights came back on and the screen reactivated 'what was that all about' Rizzo asked turning to Todd.

Todd was speaking into a phone, sounding like he was having a fairly large argument too, finally he hung up 'we have a problem…and a slight change in plans.'

Moving forward to speak with them Zoe said 'hey what the hell is going on here?'

'It's that Jack, he just bailed on us' Todd explained.

'What' said Rizzo looking over at the group searching for him, then back at Todd 'he quit the team?'

Zoe shrugged 'screw him, we can do this without him, guy was probably some rookie anyway.'

'It's not just that, Jack has a…personal grudge to settle with SSX, at least that is what he claims' Todd explained.

Rizzo frowned, then looked at Zoe 'where did you find this guy?'

'I didn't, he turned up last minute and volunteered, we were an uneven 23 so I thought heck, why not' Zoe replied.

Todd shook his head 'well he knows everything now and all we could find from a background check is that the guy was in the first tournament and has been mastering mountain sports ever since, while you guys have been slacking off the last 4 years he has been hard at work as well…he's no push over.'

'First tournament huh…well that narrows it down, there were loads of boarders in that, but only eight of us made it onto the exclusive circuit' Zoe said thoughtfully.

Suddenly the screen lit up and changed to say "Team SSX vs Jack" and then Jack stepped back out onto the stage though he was now wearing full snowboard gear, his face hidden by a balaclava 'now you know what I want SSX, you can race and trick all you want but I want to see who can conquer the world's most deadly mountains first; you…or me.'

Elise laughed 'you seriously think you can beat all of us?'

'I seriously doubt all of you have ridden the world like I have or know how to use gear like I do, you'll have to learn to work together, pick who is best for each descent in your team. I hear you aren't exactly all the best of friends, I plan to take advantage of that.'

'Alright Jack, we're game' Zoe said 'you've just made this thing a hell of a lot more interesting in my opinion.'

Jack nodded and left the stage, when he'd gone Todd turned to the crowd 'alright folks, uh, slight change of plans it appears Jack has left Team SSX, instead he wants to challenge them to a showdown; first to take all the Deadly Descents is the winner.'

The crowd cheered on as the team left the stage and retreated into a backroom, once Todd and Zoe were in he said 'are you out of your mind, I love a bit of excitement as much as the next person but…this is insane.'

'The crowd speak for us I think, chill' Zoe replied and turned to follow the others 'so first stop the Rockies huh, when is that?'

'Rizzo will be letting you all know soon enough, our base camp will be at the bottom of Whitehorn Mountain, see you all soon I guess' Todd said, not quite sure what he had just gotten him and his team into.

Chapter 2: The Rockies

Mac looked down at the base camp below, wow, Whitehorn Mountain, he'd been here before but not for a while, he was more of a Mt Baker and Mammoth Mountain kind of guy. He was on the last chopper flight in, everyone else was already here and ready to get this show on the road, he looked beside him, both his cousin Marty and Ty were sharing the chopper with him.

'Hey cous, it's gonna be good to ride with you again, looking forward to it' Mac said to Marty, Marty smiled and gave him the thumbs up.

Ty looked between them 'figured you guys were related, I just wasn't sure.'

Mac laughed 'oh Marty and I got a lot in common don't we.'

Marty just nodded in reply, still looking out the window.

'Ok, we're approaching the base camp' said the pilot, an Australian everyone called Wizard, 'better get on inside the minute I've set down, their waiting for ya.'

'Will do' Marty said.

Mac couldn't believe there were any pilots insane enough to agree to this, but then they did get to fly the famous SSX riders around, maybe that is why they agreed, or maybe they're just as insane as SSX is.

'What about our stuff' Ty asked as the chopper set down.

'Don't worry mate, someone will come and take care of that, you just get going, don't want to keep Rizzo waiting' Wizard replied with amusement, opening the rear doors.

A blast of cold air greeted the three of them as they stepped out into the freezing Rockies.

Tane and Zoe stood at the front of the room with Rizzo when Mac stepped in, the rest of the competitors were sitting around the place. Mac moved up to the front and the other two joined the crowd.

'Mac, there you are, we can finally begin' Rizzo said 'I was just handing out these to everybody' she said raising an MCOM 'with them you can communicate with each other and the pilots as well as the usual music and so on.'

'I already have one' Mac said.

Zoe rolled her eyes 'yeah we know, which is why we weren't worried about waiting to hand them out' she took two more and tossed them to Ty and Marty 'there you go guys.'

Ty grinned 'awesome, always wanted one of these.'

Zoe sat up on a table 'alright now we can start.'

'Don't we have one last thing to do before we start explaining Zoe' Tane said.

'Huh' Zoe replied 'um…'

Rizzo raised a checklist 'sleeping arrangements.'

'Oh' Zoe replied 'right, that, well hurry up already, I'm getting bored here.'

Rizzo shook her head 'wherever we go you'll always be sleeping with the same person, so remember who it is ok.'

'We ain't kids' Moby said irritably.

'Or at least most of us aren't' Viggo added, looking at Griff.

Allegra hit Viggo over the top of the head.

'Just passing on what Todd told me' Rizzo said 'alright Mac, you're with Griff.'

Mac looked horrified 'say what, oh come on, since when did I become the babysitter, why can't he go with Allegra, she practically babysits him anyway.'

Allegra made a squeal like noise in her throat 'I so do not!'

'Yeah you do' replied about five voices at once.

'There will be no cross gender bunking' Rizzo growled irritably.

'Nate then, put him with Nate' Mac suggested.

Rizzo sighed, clearly trying to keep her patience 'Mac, if you don't shut your mouth I'll put you with Viggo.'

There was a long silence and finally Mac said 'ok I'll go with Griff.'

'Kaori and Elise, according to records you two have been roomies before…ok to continue?'

Kaori nodded 'yeah sure, just like old times, right Elise?'

Elise shrugged 'yeah whatever.'

'Moby and Tane, reckon you can get along?'

Moby looked at Tane and the surfer dude just grinned back 'yeah sure mate, whatever.'

Zoe put a hand on Tane's shoulder 'Moby is an old pal of mine, don't worry, you'll get along fine.'

'Psymon and Zoe' Rizzo continued 'Zoe, as courtesy for getting this tournament up and running, despite a few changes, you get your own room' turning to Psymon she added 'and you get your own for obvious reasons fruitcake.'

Psymon laughed grinning with an evil smile.

'JP you get your own room too by request, we'd prefer to have people share but if you insist' Rizzo said.

'I do' JP said sitting back in his chair.

'Marisol and Skye, is that ok with you?'

Marisol nodded 'yeah sure, no problem.'

'Fine with me too' Skye added.

'Marty and Felix?'

The two simply nodded their heads in reply.

'Nate and Tyson, as you are brothers, we were hoping you could share a room, could you do that?'

Nate laughed 'so that is the way you want to play it huh, well its fine by me, how about you bro?'

Tyson nodded 'yeah sure, don't mind at all.'

Rizzo nodded 'good, Viggo and Ty.'

Mac laughed and looked at Ty 'you poor guy, I feel sorry for you man.'

Viggo frowned at Mac 'dude what do you have against me, seriously.'

'Nothing' said Mac 'except that living with you…is like living with a girl, the amount of time you spend in the bathroom and seriously what guy uses hair product.'

'It's called gel dude' Viggo corrected him 'you could do with some yourself.'

Rizzo pulled out a blowhorn and gave it a blast, silencing them all 'quiet, thank you, now, Ty are you ok with bunking with Viggo?'

Ty nodded 'yeah sure, I don't mind.'

'You will by the end of this tournament' Allegra muttered.

Viggo smiled 'before you ask, I'm cool with it too.'

'Allegra and Maya, any problems?

Al looked at the Inuit-Canadian chick called Maya, she didn't really know much about her, she seemed friendly enough though 'sure, whatever.'

Maya nodded too to say she was fine with it.

'Sid…sure we can't convince you to bunk with someone, we would really prefer it that way' Rizzo asked.

'No, sorry' he said, not sounding particularly sorry, more indifferent to the whole thing.

'Alexis…you also requested single, sure I can't change your mind?'

Alex nodded 'I simply prefer it zat way, it is nothing personal against anyone.'

'Evette…well you can either bunk with me or have a single, your choice' Rizzo said, biting her lip in thought.

'I'll bunk with you, I don't mind' Evette said.

'And lastly we have you Dmitriy…I'm sure Bandito will share with you' finished Rizzo, sighing.

'Yeah sure.'

Getting up Zoe moved to light up the large screen behind her 'ok now we can finally talk serious stuff, SSX begins now, and as of tomorrow we are free to ride the Rockies; our first stop on the Deadly Descents World Tour and our target descent' the screen lighting to show a map of the local area 'Mt Robson.'

'Mt Robson' Tyson's voice came over the others 'talk about going straight for the megaton bombshell, that place is…' but Nate cut him off.

'Dangerous, way too dangerous, you'd have to be insane to ride down that' Nate said.

Zoe grinned 'SSX insane, you know you want to try it Nate, you of all people should know the Rockies.'

Nate stood up and moved to stand at the front 'which is why I know it is would be suicide, day or night, to try and ride down Mt Robson unprepared.'

'Oh we're prepared dawg, you think we're going in without gear' Mac said, 'hell no, we got special body armour to protect us against the trees and rocks of this region.'

'When is that Jack guy supposed to be arriving anyway, how much of a head start do we have on this guy' Elise asked.

'Jack will be here in 3 days, if we haven't taken the Deadly Descent of Trees by then he could take it first and give him a substantial lead on us' Zoe replied.

'I have an idea' Nate said 'if you don't mind me offering' he added looking at Zoe and Rizzo who both shook their heads.

'Alright, Rockies is all about rocks and most of all trees, higher you go the more there are, just the way it is, I have rode the Rockies my whole life, so this is what I think we should do, those who think they have a solid chance of taking on the Deadly Descent of Trees raise their hand' Nate said, he rose his own.

Along with his Tyson rose his and so did Zoe and Psymon 'so what is your plan' Zoe asked.

'Those of you that think you can do it will work hard and prepare, the rest just enjoy the Rockies, do a few races and trick events on Whitehorn and Extinguisher.'

After a moment of silence Zoe said 'I like it, big guys onto something there, if we want to beat Jack this is the only way, we can't all do the descent.'

Allegra sat in Wizard's chopper as he made his way up to the top of Whitehorn where she planned to join Mac, Kaori, Tyson and a few others who had already taken to the mountain. The talk from yesterday still went through her mind, she was freaked about the idea of Mt Robson, she had wanted to raise her hand but just couldn't bring herself to do it, next time she would, on the next descent she wouldn't chicken out.

'All right Al, this is your stop, everybody off' Wizard said as he came to a shaky halt.

Allegra got up and picked up her favourite board, same old one from SSX 3, and opened the side door of the chopper; wow, what a view, like a white wonderland, some trees and rocks but nothing she couldn't handle.

'Yoh Al' Tyson yelled up at her 'race you to the bottom baby, come on!'

'Looks like you got some competition on your hands, weathers good and you got a clear sky, I'll be with you the whole way down luv no worries, show me what you can do' Wizard said.

Allegra smiled and pushed herself out of the chopper, landed and headed straight down the mountain.

She managed to keep up with Tyson but Kaori and Mac were in a league of their own and pulling off a firework display of tricks and grinds. They also somehow managed to keep ahead. Tyson gestured for Al to follow him and she did, heading into a tunnel, the two of them came out the other side and he stopped her 'let's take a rest for a moment.'

'There is no rest in a race' Al said laughing.

Tyson waved his hand 'I think Mac has this one in the bag anyway, besides I wasn't really giving it my all.'

'Hey Al, where are ya, I can't see you down there' came Wizard's voice Allegra rolled her eyes 'I'm fine, just taking a break.'

'Right oh' said Wizard 'need me to come collect ya?'

'No, I'm good' she replied.

Tyson grinned 'so…you're Allegra Sauvagess, haven't really had a chance to talk to you much.'

'How do you know me?'

'You mean aside from my brother knowing you' Tyson asked curiously.

'Oh…yeah right' Allegra replied, feeling kind of stupid for forgetting.

Tyson sat down in the snow 'well also a lot of guys I know are fans, all into the skateboard punk crowd you know, not much of a skater myself but…'

Allegra watched him, he was pretty cute, or hot was more the word, like a younger Nate but with hair, she had always liked Nate, he was a decent guy and so someone more her own age was naturally quite appealing to her.

'So…you're really going to try Mt Robson' Allegra asked.

Tyson nodded 'hell yeah, sounds awesome, dangerous of course, but awesome.'

'But your brother said' Al started but Tyson cut him off.

'Nate can be too cautious sometimes, he loves it just as much as I do once he gets out there, it is getting him out there that is the hard part, get him out onto that run and he'll love it, but he won't need to, I'll be taking it first' Tyson said.

'We're a team remember' Allegra replied 'no "I" in team.'

Tyson looked down at the snow thoughtfully 'I just want to prove to him I can do it, that's all.'

Allegra pulled herself up 'well, let's get going shall we, Mac and Kaori are probably waiting for us.'

'Sure' Tyson nodded, getting back up and following her as she shoved off down the mountain.

When they finally arrived at the bottom, Tyson just ahead of Allegra, Mac and Kaori were talking with Griff, Marty and Evette.

'Nice run Al, but you're going to have to do better than that if you want any gold' Wizard said from the chopper 'and Tyson, not bad, keep that up and you might stand a good chance up on Robson.'

Allegra grunted, she wasn't trying her hardest, she was just enjoying herself at the moment, she walked over to Mac and the others 'hey guys, enjoying the snow so far?'

'Hell yeah' said Griff with a huge smile.

Mac smirked 'there you are, what happened, you were so far behind I thought we'd lost you guys.'

'We stopped' Tyson explained 'we weren't racing for real man.'

Mac raised an eyebrow 'I was…oh well, me and Kaori tied.'

'So not true' Kaori argued 'I was an inch ahead.'

'Wizard, dawg what do you think' Mac asked looking up at the chopper.

They heard a laugh 'sorry mate, I didn't see it, wish I had though.'

'Aren't you supposed to watch us' Marty asked frowning.

'Well if you'd all kept together I could of' Wizard replied 'anyway I'm setting down now so watch yourselves.'

The group moved aside as he set down, looking at Evette, Kaori said 'you remind me of someone…don't you think Mac?'

Mac shrugged 'not sure what you mean.'

'You mean that Seeiah chick from Tricky' Marty asked curiously.

Evette laughed 'well that's cause I know Seeiah, I come from the same area of the East Coast, could even say we're neighbours, when Seeiah chose to leave the circuit she suggested I take her place.'

'Oh wow' Kaori said 'why didn't you mention this before?'

Evette shrugged 'didn't really get a chance, Seeiah even taught me her Soul Grind move, it's not like she does much extreme boarding anymore.'

'Who was Seeiah' Griff asked curiously.

Mac sighed 'freestyle boarder from Tricky, bit older than most of us but skilled, I'll give her that.'

The group were interrupted by the noise of a second chopper and they turned to see one flying in 'Tyson; Zoe, Psymon and Nate are waiting for you up on Extinguisher Tower, it's time for the four of you to start preparing for the Deadly Descent' came the sexy French voice of Dragonfly, their second pilot.

Tyson smiled 'alright, guess I'll see you guys later then' and he headed over to Dragonfly as she landed near Wizard.

Allegra followed him to see him off, as they got near the chopper Dragonfly got out of the chopper 'ok Tyson, listen up, weather is getting a little harsh up there and it'll get worse by the hour according to base camp.'

Tyson pulled up his dark green hood and put on his goggles 'not a problem got a lot of layers.'

Dragonfly opened a box in the rear of her chopper and took out some body armour 'here put this on and make sure it is tight and secure as we go, Extinguisher is a cruel place that will break you without protection.'

Allegra raised her eyebrow as she watched Tyson put on the gear 'wow, we're really getting serious this year.'

'This place is no easy ride' replied Dragonfly 'you were warned of what you were signing up for Al…not getting cold feet are you?'

Shaking her head Allegra put her hands on her thighs confidently 'no way, just hoping people like Griff know what they're up against.'

Tyson pulled himself up 'ok, I'm ready to rock.'

'Good, get in the back with your board and we'll be on our way' Dragonfly replied, moving back to the pilots door.

Tyson got his board and climbed in, as he did Allegra tapped his shoulder and he turned to look at her 'watch yourself out there ok, just remember, we're in it together alright, don't go playing the hero.'

Tyson gave a smirk 'no promises babe, how about a soda when I get back huh?'

Surprised by his forward approach, for one thing most people knew it wasn't wise to call her babe or baby and secondly that he was subtly asking her out 'um…I…yeah ok, sure.'

'It's a date then' he replied as the rear doors began to close.

'No it's not' she tried to yell over the noise but she had a feeling he didn't hear her; she backed away from the helicopter as it began its ascent and then flew off into the distance.

'So where are we headed' Tyson asked Dragonfly as he checked over his board, making sure it was ready.

'Wrecking Crew, a nasty run on the west side of the mountain, the others are meeting us there' Dragonfly replied.

Tyson chuckled 'sounds like fun.'

'You SSX people have a strange description of fun' Dragonfly replied, as the chopper shook slightly.

Tyson looked out the side window and whistled 'damn, that's a lot of trees, there even a path down there?'

Dragonfly laughed 'of course there is, if you can find it.'

As they flew over the top of Wrecking Crew, the weather and darkening sky making things seem all the worse; they looked down to see Zoe and Psymon talking and Nate sitting nearby.

Looking up Zoe waved 'hey Dragonfly, about time, we need to get some practise in before the weather takes a turn for the worse.'

'Or it gets dark' Nate replied, standing up and clipping himself to his board.

Psymon looked at him 'what's the matter cowboy, afraid of a little darkness, from what I understand we're going to be night riders too ain't we Zo?'

'I did not just hear that' Tyson said tapping his earpiece.

Zoe shrugged 'I don't see why not, so long as the weather is good, with that Jack guy on our tail, every second counts.'

'Speaking of time, you better get going' Dragonfly said 'the weather isn't getting any better and I'm not staying up here if it gets bad.'

Psymon grunted 'right, get your ass down here then squirt!'

Opening the side door, Tyson leaped out and landed near the others.

Zoe moved to the front 'all right guys, Wrecking Crew, a cruel gauntlet of trees and rocks, if we want to master Robson this is the place to prepare; in short you need to go hard and fast, weave over under or around whatever gets in your way.'

She spun round to face the track 'alright, we stick together best we can, if anyone gets in trouble yell out, but don't try to be a hero, if you're too far apart, just go on.'

'And I can pick them up' Dragonfly finished.

The four began to carve down the deadly valley of rocks and trees, Zoe took the lead, Psymon following close behind, Nate and Tyson moved together a little way behind them.

'Bro you don't need to wait for me' Tyson said 'you can go faster you know.'

Nate looked over at him 'I'm being careful' Nate said and ducked, barely avoiding a log that was lying diagonally over the course 'Jesus, this place is a warzone.'

Meanwhile a little way ahead Psymon was having a hell of a time 'Whooooh, yeah baby' he screamed to the skies as he soared off a jump 'give me air or give me death!'

Zoe grinned as she swerved around a bunch of trees, then leapt over a rock and then ducked under a log lying straight across the course 'careful what you wish for crazy!'

She turned round to see Nate and Tyson gaining on them, she smirked 'not bad Nate' she said to herself 'and I guess it runs in the family too.'

'Uh guys I think we've got a problem' Dragonfly's voice came through to them, though it was fairly faint with all the noise.

'Yeah, what's up' Nate asked curiously.

They could see her chopper flying ahead of them lighting something up 'unstable rocks to the left side of the valley that you're in, we could clear them out easily enough but if you don't get through before they fall…'

'Move fast, got it' Zoe finished 'ok guys, looks like we need to double time this.'

Tyson carved ahead of Nate 'screw this man, I'm going to show you just how fast I can be.'

'Tyson' Nate yelled but he couldn't hear him, Nate frowned and followed him as fast as he could.

Zoe and Psymon closed in on the clearing but they could see the rocks shaking, they were going to fall at any second 'crap' Zoe growled, just then she heard Tyson and Nate coming up from behind them and the four came more or less level.

'Watch out, gauntlet of trees ahead' Dragonfly yelled.

Zoe carved through them perfectly and crossed the finish first, Tyson stumbled slightly but followed a second behind however Psymon hit a tree and disconnected from his board, crashing inches from the finish.

'Hurry get away from there' Dragonfly shouted to them.

Nate helped Psymon and rode across the finish moments before the boulders came down, causing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.

'Whoa, that was too close guys, next time we check the run first' Dragonfly said as she moved to land.

Psymon looked up at Nate and growled a gruff 'thanks.'

'Don't mention it' Nate replied whipping the sweat off his brow.

'Oh I won't be mentioning it to anyone, I can assure you' Psymon muttered 'now I need a new god damn board too.'

Nate sighed, you just can't change some people, he turned to Tyson 'you almost scared me half to death.'

'I got over the line before you, what is there to worry about?'

Nate shook his head 'we'll talk more later.'

The four of them climbed aboard the chopper and sat down 'well I think that is it for today, no way can we ride down there again with boulders blocking the path' Zoe said, sounding down about not being able to snowboard down THAT again.

As they flew back down Dragonfly sent back a radio message about the rockslide on Wrecking Crew 'base camp says they will get someone to deal with it first thing tomorrow morning.'

That evening Tyson sat at the bar down at base camp with Allegra 'so, how does this compare to SSX 3 so far' he asked curiously.

Allegra grinned 'crazy, I can't believe I signed up for this, I should of just said no.'

'Why' Tyson asked, take a swig of his drink as he watched her.

She shrugged 'I'm not like most of you guys; I don't have years of experience.'

Tyson laughed and pointed at himself 'rookie remember.'

'No rookie could take on that run the way you did, I heard Zoe telling Moby about it, it takes a lot to impress her' Allegra replied 'you may be a rookie to SSX but you've been riding for years haven't you.'

Grinning Tyson looked at the table top 'guilty as charged, I'm from Colorado Al, we breed damn good snowboarders' after a moments pause he added 'so…any other reason you think you can't stand with the best of us?'

'Hey, I never said I wasn't good; I just don't have the special skills we may need for some of these regions' Allegra replied defensively.

'That's a load of crap' said a voice and they turned to see Griff coming over, followed by Viggo.

'Hey Griff' said Al 'Viggo' she added with a cold tone.

Tyson grinned 'I seriously need to get what is up with you guys, I hate being in the dark.'

Griff rolled his eyes 'long story, complicated, very awkward.'

'He's a jerk' Allegra explained turning back to Tyson.

'Obviously not that long' Griff frowned.

Viggo grinned 'Al babe, I have no idea what you're talking about; I just came to say hi, and to say that was awesome riding Tyson, nice work.'

'Where were you all day, Mac and I were out on the slopes but we didn't see you anywhere' Griff said frowning, turning to look at Viggo.

'I went out a little later, guess you had already come back' Viggo said shrugging, 'you know me, I sleep in.'

'How about that Ty guy, your roommate' Allegra asked curiously.

Viggo shrugged again casually 'no idea, seems like a nice enough guy, spoke a bit last night, when I got up he was gone, haven't seen him since.'

'Anyway' Tyson said 'back to what you were saying Al…' but he was interrupted yet again by Zoe calling to him.

'Yoh Tyson, meeting in the next room, you're needed now' the rocker chick yelled as she and Psymon headed to the meeting room 'oh and find Nate before you come in, we need him too.'

Tyson sighed 'be back soon' and left the bar in a hurry.

He found Nate and then joined the others in the meeting room where Mac, Tane, Psymon and Zoe were facing Rizzo and Bandito who stood either side of a the same large screen as before.

'What now man, I got other things I'd like to do you know' Mac asked, his arms cross.

'We may have a slight problem' Bandito explained 'the storm overhead now isn't going anywhere fast and by the time we do the Deadly Descent it'll be right over Mt Robson.'

The riders looked at each other 'then we do it earlier' Nate said.

'We can't' replied Tane in a calm voice, it was the first time they'd heard him speak.

Nate looked at him 'why not?'

'We haven't been able to contact Jack and his crew' Rizzo explained 'unless we can inform them and re-arrange the date…we have to go when we planned.'

'Is it a bad signal' Zoe asked frowning.

Bandito shook his head 'no, the jerk has turned his communications offline; in my own personal opinion…he wants you guys to take it on this way.'

'He thinks we can't handle it' Tyson said, sounding offended by the very thought.

Nate put his hand on Tyson's shoulder 'easy bro, we don't have time for this.'

'For what' snapped back Tyson irritably.

Silencing him with a look Nate turned back to the others 'so what do we do?'

'We stick to the plan' Zoe said 'not much else we can do, besides I enjoy challenge.'

'Here here' Psymon voiced loudly.

Nate shook his head, was he the only one who thought this was a really bad idea.

Chapter 2: The Impenetrable Gauntlet

The days came and went and before Tyson and the other knew it, the day of the first Deadly Descent was upon them, looming over them like the mountain itself.

Tyson breathed deeply as he put on the last of his gear and prepared to join the other three outside by the chopper 'hey Tyson' he turned to see Allegra run over to him.

'Hey Al, guess this is it, and this is supposedly the easiest descent too…I don't know if I should call myself lucky or stupid' Tyson said.

Allegra gave him a hug but quickly backed away as Mac, Kaori and Griff approached 'for luck' she whispered quietly to him.

'Hey dawg, be careful, we never planned on this weather, gonna get real thick out there' Mac said giving Tyson a punch in the shoulder.

'Yeah, and kick Jack's ass for us' Griff added.

Tyson nodded 'I will, see you guys back here later.'

He turned and left the building, the sky was getting dark, between the darkening day and bad weather it was going to be a seriously nasty run. He joined the other over by a chopper he recognised all too well 'glad you could finally join us mate' said Wizard's voice.

Zoe grinned 'you're crazy Wizard, flying up to Mt Robson in this weather.'

'Ain't nothing compared to some of the stuff I've experienced trust me' Wizard replied 'alright everyone in and buckle up.'

Once they were all in Wizard's voice came over the speaker 'right now listen up, only sayin this once then I gotta focus all me attention on keeping us airborne; I can't land you right at the top of Robson, but there's a clear way you can climb not far from the top though. I'm gonna set some flares down at the starting point then you are going to have to climb up yourselves.'

'Explains the gear' Psymon muttered 'good thing I know how to climb this sort of terrain.'

'What about Jack' Zoe asked 'how is he getting up here?'

'He'll no doubt have his own way, but he has to start from the top just like you, guess we'll find out' Wizard replied.

Wizard dropped the flares then moved his chopper round, with a lot of shaking, and descended slightly 'right I can't set down, way too many trees, everyone off, go now, don't know how long I can hold her.'

They all quickly unbuckled and jumped off, their boards attached to their backs; there were trees and rocks absolutely everywhere and a sharp cliff face directly in front of them. A flickering light was coming from way above at the top.

'Ok guys, I can tell you now, work out ain't going to be your climb, it's going to be getting down' Wizard said his light was visible but his chopper was barely clear through the blizzard.

'Alright this is how we should work this' Nate said 'we go up in twos, if we see Jack then the first two up goes ahead after him, we can't afford to lose this.'

Tyson frowned 'no way man, I can handle Jack.'

Nate frowned 'Tyson you shouldn't even be here, this is way too dangerous for you, look I'll handle the descent ok.'

Pushing Nate back Tyson ran for the cliff and headed up the face with his gear 'sorry bro, this one's mine.'

'Tyson' Nate yelled pulling himself to his feet.

'Your idiot brother is going to cause us to lose this' Psymon yelled irritably, pushing past Nate. Psymon began to climb the wall followed by Zoe.

'Well' Zoe said turning to Nate 'you coming or what?'

Nate ran to the wall and began to climb, 'listen Zoe, I have the best chance of winning this, you know that.'

Zoe was quiet for a moment 'well…you or your brother.'

'Just do something for me will you' Nate asked as they continued to climb and Zoe looked at him.

'Get after him, Psymon and I will deal with this descent, Tys is going to get himself killed' Nate said irritably.

Zoe thought for a moment and as they reached the top she gave a brief nod 'got it.'

They had barely disconnected their boards from their backs and attached them to their feet when a chopper flew overhead 'what the hell' Zoe said looking up.

Jack flew from it and took off down the slope like a bullet.

'God damn it' Psymon yelled as Zoe took off after him, or seemed too, Nate hoped she'd actually keep her word though.

Nate and Psymon followed her tracks and sped off into the gauntlet of trees and rocks.

'Ok I can see you' Wizard said from above 'you're in the gauntlet now, watch yourselves.'

'Wizard, Tyson went ahead, did you see him' Nate asked as he swerved around some trees then jumped over a log.

'What! No I ain't seen him, I'll move ahead and try and find him, watch yourselves' Wizard replied.

Meanwhile, a little way ahead, Tyson carved his way down the ever thickening mass of trees 'oh yeah, this is awesome' he yelled out _and no sign of that Jack guy yet either, that's a good sign. _

However his excitement didn't last long as the blizzard got thick, making it difficult for him to see in front of him; he moved round the rocks, rode high over a mass of trees and then landed back into the main valley, barely avoiding some trees 'agh…damn it, can't see a thing!'

He swerved around a rock, then through some trees, and jumped over a log but wasn't able to react in time to another log right across the track and it hit him right across the face, smashing his goggles into eyes. He felt himself blacking out and blood trickling down his forehead…he reached for the emergency SOS beacon on his MCOM and just managed to press it before letting his head hit the snow.

Zoe carved as fast as she could down the run, avoiding the trees as best as possible, Jack was ahead of her, she could hear his board carving but not quite see him due to the weather.

'I've picked up Tyson's SOS' came Wizard's voice in her ear 'but I can't see him, I'm trying to locate him now, something must have happened.'

Nate came down alongside Zoe 'I'll handle this…just find Tyson for me ok.'

Zoe nodded but didn't say anything, too focused on avoiding the rocks and trees every few seconds as she swerved left and right and ducked and dodged over and under and around them.

'Alright I found him' Wizard said 'he's coming up on your right Zo, you're going to want to slow yourself down and then try and find a way to get him on the chopper.'

Zoe pulled to a stop and quickly disconnected from her board and moved off to the side, crouching down to check Tyson over 'damn…Tyson, hey Tys can you hear me, dude I'm going to need you to snap out of it, I can't get you out of here if your unconscious.'

Tyson stirred 'ugh…my head… Zoe?'

'Come on' Zoe replied 'I'm getting you out of here.'

She helped him up and the two of them climbed up the small slope to where the chopper could reach them easier.

'Alright' said Wizard 'I'm going to throw a harness down, Tyson you sit in that and I'll pull you aboard, you're in no fit state to get yourself aboard with a head injury.'

Wizard lowered the harness and Tyson got on, Zoe then moved and climbed up a second rope into the helicopter.

Back in the gauntlet Nate and Psymon pursued Jack down the valley; they were past the halfway mark now and probably close to the 3 quarter mark.

Nate gritted his teeth _damn this Jack guy was good, how was he keeping ahead so well. _

He and Psymon were almost together and the two of them were only a little way behind Jack, they could hear him and every now and then see his orange jacket and black pants but couldn't quite reach him.

'Alright guys' came Wizards voice at last 'doubt I can catch up with you before you finish now, let alone find you in this weather but Tyson and Zoe are with me and we'll see you at the bottom.'

Psymon carved off to the left beside him and went off a jump, avoiding a large group of trees and landing on the other side a little way ahead of Nate and almost level with Jack.

Nate grinned 'nice one' he muttered quietly.

Suddenly the fog opened up, almost as though it lifted and a huge mass of trees was ahead, diagonal, right across the track, clumped together Nate swore and swerved sharply to avoid the first of them.

He heard a cry and crash ahead of him but didn't have time to see who it was, he had to focus only on himself if he wanted to survive this; left, right, left, right, left right, right, left, right, left, under, over, left, under, over left, right, over, under, left, over.

He breathed a deep sigh as he finally got a moment of space…looking around he saw that neither Jack nor Psymon was with him.

He turned and saw Jack coming up behind him fast, Psymon was nowhere in sight.

He could see the finish ahead…it was right there, he just had to reach it, he leaned forward, leapt over one last log and… made it, with Jack seconds behind him.

'YES' Nate yelled throwing his arms 'I did it WHOOOOO I conquered the Deadly Descent of Trees for SSX.'

Zoe and Psymon came running over to him 'nice work Nate, knew you could do it' Zoe said.

'Is Tyson ok' Nate asked, concern in his voice.

Zoe grinned 'he'll have a nasty headache for a few days…bit of a scar maybe, but hey, chicks dig scars.'

Nate shook his head and went to the helicopter to take a look for himself, leaving the other two to talk.

'So what happened to you Psymon' Zoe asked curiously.

Psymon brushed off his clothes 'that last patch of trees caught me off guard, was going too fast and I hit them…Nate did good, I'll give him that.'

'We better get out of here guys, weather is getting bad' Wizard said 'Jack, your welcome to ride with us mate.'

Jack looked over at them, they couldn't see his face but it was no doubt unhappy, after a long silence he finally said 'whatever' and walked past Zoe and Psymon onto the chopper.

On board Tyson was holding a towel to his head, Nate was sitting beside him 'I did warn you bro' Nate said sighing.

Tyson raised a finger 'I'm never going to hear the end of this am I?'

Nate laughed 'just be glad I ain't going to tell mum and dad.'

When they arrived back at the base camp, they were all waiting for them, Tyson was far from looking forward to explaining his screw up, especially to Allegra.

'Want me to say something for you' Nate asked him, hand on his shoulder.

He shook his head 'no, I may as well get this over with, just help me up will you.'

The cheers began the second the doors opened but quickly stopped 'oh my god' came a voice and Allegra ran forward to help 'what happened?'

Nate was about to reply when Psymon pushed past saying 'moron tried to take the glory for himself…almost got himself killed…he was lucky Zoe sacrificed her chance at victory to save him.'

Mac, Marty, Kaori and Viggo moved forward 'is that true' Kaori asked frowning slightly and Psymon.

Tyson nodded 'yeah…I' but Allegra cut him off.

'God Tyson, are you crazy, we're supposed to be a team, why did you have to go off and play the hero' Al snapped angrily.

Mac looked at Allegra with surprise 'easy girl, jeez, what's got into you?'

Allegra looked like she was going to say more than just threw her arms up in frustration, turned her back on them and headed inside.

'Sorry about her' Mac said 'she gets a bit moody sometimes.'

Tyson shrugged 'right now I just need someone to point me to the medical centre.'

With that they headed off towards the main building, in search of the medical centre.

A little way off Jack was watching them, frowning, he waited until Zoe was alone then moved to speak to her 'so…one to you I guess.'

Zoe grinned 'no need to be a sore loser…if at first you don't succeed, try try again right?'

Jack gave a bark like laugh 'we're a long way from finished yet Payne, you've only begun to know what you're up against…this place is child's play to me, if your team are struggling here…you may as well give up.'

'I want to up the stakes a little' Zoe said frowning 'I'm not going to have you insult us without you giving something in return if you lose.'

Crossing his arms Jack laughed slightly 'interesting, name it.'

'If we win, you take off that ridiculous mask, show us who you are… I want to know who has the guts, nerve and who hates us enough to want to take us all on ever since the first SSX' Zoe said.

'And if I win…you shut down your circuit forever…deal?'

Zoe thought about it for a long second then offered her hand 'deal.'


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Patagonia

The private jet of SSX soared through the sky, heading down into South America and towards the mountains of Patagonia.

Allegra was looking out the window, Griff sitting next to her, Tyson had tried to speak to her several times today but she was still angry with him; how could he be such a reckless moron.

'Ok team' said Zoe, standing up at the front of the plane, with Mac and Tane either side of her 'next stop for us…Patagonia' she lit up a screen behind her, showing the region they were headed too 'our target descent…the north face of Fitz Roy at 3375 metres…it's one of the steepest faces in the world.'

Rizzo came up next to them 'the whole of Patagonia is a deadly labyrinth of rock spires and crevasses, even the lowest mountain we'll be handling, Cerro Pollone, has terrain covered with plane wrecks.'

'Place is the meaning of unwelcome territory' Mac added.

Allegra swallowed as she looked at the screen _this region looks worse than the last one by a long way…how are we even supposed to survive this place?_

'Elise' Tane said 'why don't you explain to everyone about your suit…if anyone can conquer this place…my moneys on you.'

Elise stood up 'sure… my suit is designed for cold sure…but is specifically designed to be aerodynamic, sleek' she switched the screen to display her black and white suit and the backpack it carries 'my latest achievement was mastering the art of using a wingsuit…that is why I said I might well be needed this time round.'

Viggo raised his hand 'you telling me that if we want to ride this region…we have to learn to fly?'

'Yep' Tane replied simply.

'That is so awesome' Griff grinned 'man I love this sport.'

Looking round Elise said 'am I the only one who can take on the Deadly Descent then?'

Marisol raised her hand 'anything you can do I can do, if I can windsurf then I can handle that.'

'Hey I'm taking this on too' Griff said 'ain't no way am I missing out on a chance to fly.'

Rizzo frowned 'you'll all be learning to fly, unless you want to sit inside all day, but you'll need to take on more serious training if you want to handle the Deadly Descent of Gravity.'

'I want to do it' Griff argued, 'come on it makes sense; I'm light and more agile.'

Elise looked thoughtful 'kids got a point.'

'If he goes you have to look after him' Rizzo replied.

'That I don't like so much' Elise scowled, after a long pause she said 'hey Al, what about you?'

'Huh, what' said Allegra, half daydreaming.

'I said do you want to join us?'

'Hell no' Allegra replied 'and I know it's only because you want me to babysit Griff, forget it.'

'Oh come on Al, it could be fun' Griff replied, tugging her arm.

Rolling her eyes Allegra nodded 'fine, I'm in, but you sure as hell better be right about that wingsuit gear Elise…I don't want to go crashing into the side of some mountain.'

'There is a variety of designs to attach to a variety of clothing, backpacks and so on; something for everyone as they say' Elise said 'all we got to do is find a kind that fits everyone's gear.'

Marisol smiled 'awesome.'

'When we arrive we'll get everyone's gear sorted and equipped with wingsuits' Rizzo said 'the base camp is located between the three mountains we'll be going too in Patagonia, you'll be in for some early starts too, we aren't that close to the mountains I'm afraid.'

'Oh that sucks' Tyson muttered moodily.

Rizzo looked at Tyson 'YOU Tyson are not going anywhere until we're certain you didn't suffer any serious damage.'

'And I hope you learned your lesson' Nate added.

Tyson muttered something incoherent under his breath, still staring out the window of the plane.

When they arrived they all began fitting their gear to wingsuits…Elise was the person who had brought her own suit that was pre-fitted so they had a lot of preparation to do on that front.

'Ah South America, it's good to be home' Marisol said as she looked up at the mountains, standing in her magenta one piece suit that was being fitted with a wingsuit of the same colour.

Allegra looked over at her 'you ever been here before?'

Marisol shook her head 'no, I'm from Caracas originally so I lived mostly on the coast.'

While Al fitted her red jacket with a wingsuit she looked at Marisol, she seemed so full of life 'and now' she asked wondering why Marisol spoke in the past tense.

'Now I mostly live in America, I'm staying with friends and working with Brodi Ford another former SSX boarder trying to help raise money for the poor people of South America…and help Brodi stop pollution too.'

'That's quite an endeavour' said a voice and the two of them turned to see the Inuit-Canadian called Maya standing there 'I'm sorry, I couldn't help over hearing, I also try and help the planet so…I wish you and your friend good luck.'

'Thanks' Marisol said smiling; she looked over her magenta tight suit then turned to look at Allegra, wings spread 'what do you think?'

Allegra shrugged, she never was great with fashion 'if you mean do I think it looks correct, yeah, fashion… I'm not the person to ask.'

Looking over at Kaori, Marisol pulled the same pose 'hey Kaori, what do you think?'

Kaori gave her the thumbs up then went back to sorting out her suit, Allegra smirked 'you can always count on Kaori' she said quietly.

'She's changed a lot since I last saw her' Marisol said, 'girl used to have brown hair for one thing.'

Allegra was about to say she remembered that herself but Zoe and Rizzo drew everyone's attention.

'Alright guys, listen up…Patagonia is a dangerous region and most of it is totally off limits to everyone except…well us; so everyone goes somewhere with a partner understand, no riding solo' Rizzo said.

'Yeah ok' Griff muttered 'we got it, no riding alone, so when can we start?'

Stepping to the front with two men either side Elise said 'as soon as you learn how to fly; myself, Riley and Brad here are going to take you out and help you learn…once you know that Patagonia is all yours.'

Elise soared through the sky on her wingsuit and looked back at Marisol, Griff and Allegra behind her; she couldn't deny she was impressed; they were progressing fast, but were they good enough?

They'd been flying for three days now, but only been practising on Cerro Pollone so far, they needed to take the next step soon, but she needed to make sure they were all ready, this wasn't the Rockies, you make a mistake here and you don't live to tell about it.

'Nice flying out there guys' came Wizard's voice 'so Elise what do you reckon…time for the first trial?'

Elise came down to land at the bottom of the run and carved to a halt 'I think we're going to ride Pollone one last time first Wizard.'

'Righto, coming down to pick you up now' Wizard said, swerving his chopper round and beginning his descent.

Elise looked round at the other three 'Marisol, you're doing good, I'm impressed.'

Looking surprised at the compliment Marisol raised her eyebrow 'uh, thanks.'

'Al, you need to watch your lift, don't lose control, if the wind catches control of you you're dead meat' Elise said 'you too Griff' she added.

'Well I'm lighter than you guys, so kind of unfair' Griff argued.

Allegra sighed 'perhaps you should get a slightly heavier backpack before we head to Cerro Torre, might equal out the weight.'

'Change your outfit while you're at it' Elise said smirking.

Griff scowled at her 'hey don't go making fun of my outfit, it's awesome.'

'Yeah if you want to look like a major patriot' Elise replied, disconnecting herself from her white and gold board.

Allegra couldn't help but laugh, for once she had to agree with Elise, Griff's suit was seriously patriotic to the USA; totally red, white and blue with sponsors all over and the USA flag on both shoulders as well as his black board having the USA flag on the underside…

'What's wrong with a little patriotism' Griff asked looking down at his outfit.

Elise sighed and started climbing aboard the chopper 'there is nothing LITTLE about that outfit.'

Marisol followed Elise aboard and Allegra and Griff followed her 'so, where too' Wizard asked.

'Blackbox' Elise said 'we're going to ride Pollone top to bottom.'

As they flew up towards Blackbox Elise looked round at her team mates for the Deadly Descent; Marisol was wearing a tight one piece suit not too different from her own but it was a magenta colour and she was wearing magenta goggles. Her hair was tied back so it wouldn't blow into her face.

Allegra was wearing a red jacket top with flame design on it and black pants, red goggles on her head and her braids, as always, falling either side.

Griff's tragic patriotic American outfit reminded her of JP and all those sponsors…ugh; at least Griff didn't have his ego though. She had to admit the helmet with the camera was pretty awesome tech.

'Alright guys, we're coming up on the peak' Wizard said 'you got clear skies, fairly strong winds though so watch yourself out there, if you deploy your wingsuits be careful.'

Elise put her black goggle with the golden tint down over her eyes 'ha ha, where would be the fun in that.'

Stepping aside as wizard opened the rear door she waved to the three others 'ok team go go go' Elise said and the other three leapt out onto the snow at the peak and waited for her to join them.

'Hey Elise' came Wizard's voice from the front 'wind's are picking up love and the sun's going to be falling almost as fast you out there, I suggest you get this done quick and we head back to base camp.'

She nodded 'right and don't worry, we'll be fine' and with that she leapt out.

Wizard sealed his rear door and ascended away from them to watch from a distance 'ok I got you guys on radar, read outs are looking solid.'

Elise turned to look at the other three 'ok Al, stick with Griff, Marisol your with me no one goes anywhere alone, everybody ready?'

'You know it baby' Marisol said with a smile.

Allegra nodded, not sure if she had enough nerve to speak right now.

'Heck yeah' said Griff in excitement 'let's do this!'

Elise smirked and without another word headed off, Marisol following close behind her. The four of them begun together but as they rode through a gust of fog Allegra and Griff carved down a path to the left, when the fog cleared the two of them were alone 'Al' came Wizard's voice 'you and Griff have a vertical drop off on left and jagged cliffs to your right, watch yourself.'

She and Griff rode down the narrow ridge area avoiding rocks and a few narrow crevasses and holes; connecting to Wizard she said 'where did Elise and Marisol go?'

'You path went two ways back there, they went to the right, I'm soaring above over the middle' Wizard replied.

Hearing Wizard gasp and then cry out in amazement Griff said 'what, what happened?'

'Elise and Marisol just flew over a massive crevasse on the wingsuits, text book execution.'

Griff growled 'man, why do I always miss the good stuff.'

The two of them kept moving, the crevasses getting larger and more frequent but none large enough for a wingsuit yet.

'Guys' came Elise's voice 'do you hear me?'

'Yeah what's up' Allegra replied as she ducked under a large rock then jumped over a piece of a plane wreck.

'Don't use the wingsuits unless absolutely necessary, winds are getting nasty' Elise replied.

Allegra didn't reply, she felt she hardly needed to, she'd assume they'd heard her.

'Whoa, that crevasse is huge, it's coming right up on you Al' Wizard said.

She didn't need to be told, she and Griff could see it, they were fast approaching it and getting enough speed for it wasn't easy with all the obstacles in their path.

'Not a good runway' Griff muttered.

'I hear you' Al replied 'ok, get ready for it' she reached round, preparing to pull the handles.

They both deployed at the same time and soared high, quickly getting control and angling themselves down slightly towards the other side.

'Ha ha, nice flying out there, almost feel like joining you' Wizard said.

Allegra grinned, she was about to say something in reply when there was gust of wind an unpleasant jerk and she almost lost control, another massive gust came in and she barely kept control.

'Al help' she looked back to see it was Griff who had yelled, he was hanging on to her board for dear life, trying to catch the wind again.

'Griff, ah crap, hold on, we're almost there, hang in there buddy' she looked forward, she could see the other side, but they were coming in way too fast and low, it was going to be a bad landing.

'Holy smokes what's going on out there guys' Wizard said.

'Aghh, it's Griff something went wrong with the wingsuit, he…' but was all Allegra could manage before the two of them crashed down into the snow just short of the crevasse.

'Al…Griff…guys do you copy' came Wizard's voice, he sounded concerned, his usual humour and enthusiasm gone.

The two teens lay in a pile, Griff on top of Allegra, her face planted in the snow 'ugh, yeah…we're ok' Allegra muttered 'little shaken up, but we'll live.'

Seeing were he was Griff pulled himself off 'oh uh, sorry.'

'Hey guys, we're almost at the bottom, where the heck are you' came Elise's voice in her ear.

Brushing herself off Allegra sighed and said 'we got a bit of a problem, Griff's wingsuit is busted, barely made it across a crevasse.'

'Guys ok?'

'Yeah, just about, but I doubt Griff can make it down without the wingsuit…or can he, you been down here before?'

There was a silence for a moment then Elise said 'no, doubt it, tell Griff to ride with Wizard until we're done, you hear that Wizard?'

'No problem Elise' Wizard pitched.

Griff didn't look happy 'you guys suck, how come I have to skip this ride?'

'Dude do you really want to end up like pizza on the side of a cliff…'

seeing his face she smiled and said 'yeah didn't think so.'

Wizard came flying in low and picked Griff up 'Al' came Elise's voice again 'you can't be too far from the bottom now, but watch yourself ok, you're on your own now.'

She didn't need to be told that, she swallowed and checked her bindings before heading off down the mountain once again. She carved down the mountain, avoiding the rocks and the wreck of a massive airplane. She could feel the ground levelling out though; it was getting less steep all the time.

'You got a crevasse at the centre of the track Al, stay to the left or right' Wizard's voice called in.

Allegra nodded and kept to the right, moving round the curve, over a couple of jumps and found Elise and Marisol waiting for her at the bottom, finally.

'Hey, Griff could have made that' Allegra said lifting her goggles up and frowning angrily at Elise.

Elise looked at Allegra 'this whole place is wingsuit mandatory, better safe than sorry, we're responsible for him remember.'

'I heard that' they heard Griff mutter over the radio.

Allegra still felt Griff should have been allowed to ride 'so how'd I do?'

'Sloppy' Elise replied 'if you hope to go higher and take on the deadly descent than you need to do better, both of you.'

Marisol didn't say anything, she wasn't agreeing or disagreeing, she just waved up at Wizard as he came flying over.

'Griff needs to get some better support, maybe some weight to balance him out' Elise added 'alright guys, let's head back.'

Meanwhile back at the Base Camp Mac was sitting in one of the locker sheds where they kept their boards, polishing his own.

He was distracted from his task by the sound of Kaori bursting in 'hey Mac, what you doing?'

Mac shrugged 'just waxing my boards, need them all clean and shiny.'

Kaori raised her eyebrow and looked at his rack of boards 'exactly how many boards do you have anyway?'

Mac laughed 'don't give me that Kaori; I know you have loads too.'

Smirking she blushed slightly, reminding Mac of the Kaori he remembered from before, she'd changed a lot 'yeah, but most of them were gifts, I don't buy them.'

'With the amount of money I have, got to do something with it' Mac said laughing as he turned over the board he was currently working on.

'So what's the latest' Kaori asked curiously, spinning a chair backwards and sitting to face him.

Mac showed her the one he was waxing; a board with an orange camo top side and chrome grey underside 'this' Mac said 'she's my baby, my latest work of art and she fits my latest gear perfectly.'

Looking over at the rack Kaori pulled out a black board with cracked white lines all over it 'hey I remember this one, you used it in the first ever SSX, is it the same exact board?'

Mac shook his head 'nah, it was too well used, but I loved that board design so I had this one made in its honour.'

'First tournament was awesome' Kaori said dreamily 'I kind of miss those days…so much simpler.'

Mac was going to reply when Ty burst in snowboard in arms 'man, it is crazy out there, hope you ain't planning on riding Mac, winds are getting gnarly.'

Mac shook his head 'nope, not today, just waxing, hey Ty man, is it true what they say about you?'

Ty shrugged 'don't know man, what do they say?'

'That you never actually learned to snowboard, you just learned from pros that boarded in the Lyngen Alps' Mac asked.

Ty laughed 'kind of, yeah, I mean my dad taught me the basics but yeah the rest was all kind of trial and error.'


End file.
